take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gla250 for $329 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. now for your sunday, "viewpoint." >> good sunday morning. i'm pat lawson muse. sunday december 18th, there was a walk in washington, an interfaith pilgrimage if you will. it took place at the washington hebrew congregation and involved leaders of several faiths. it was billed as a walk for unity and interfaith protest. derrick ward was there. ♪ >> reporter: a muslim call to prayer outside the washington hebrew congregation in northwest d.c., where there was a gathering that crossed denomination al

>> we want to choose faith over fear. >> reporter: they first held one of the walks last year. post election, feel the need is greater. this chaplain runs a shelter and shes a direct link to the rhetoric. >> before they could be treated kindly. they're now being openly being mistreated, discriminated against and harassed. >> we felt it was critical to come together and remind ourselves and remind the nation that as people of faith, we have far more in common than divides us. >> that's what we're called to do, it's a part of all of our faith traditions. >> reporter: people on this pilgrimage get it, that by walking together, their message may get out to those who don't or may question that whether things that guide usan

overcome. >> you will have some of the strongest religious leaders making a statement that we want to come together. >> reporter: derrick ward, news 4. >> joining us now to talk more about the walk are some of the leaders who participated. father charles representing the archdiocese of washington, refer ri tre ent, maryann, and also representatives from islamic center and also the washington hebrew congregation. it's a pleasure to have you all join us. rabbi, as derrick ward reported, you started the walk last fall. why did you start it and how did it happen? >> it began with a call from the cathedral a yea

campaign that dealt with we felt an injustice to our muslim brothers and sisters. the talk that we hear again about the registry of certain people of faith. and so that was the catalyst that brought a group of religious leaders who continue to work together to respond to a moment. >> and bishop, who were some of the others thft invited to participate and did everyone in your congregation support this? >> we invited as many friends as we could across the interfaith spectrum, also recognizing it was short notice and a sunday afternoon. and so as you saw on the tape, we had other imams and christian leaders from across the wider area. i don't know that there would anyone who would disagree in our traditions that we have strong bond of unity across faiths. and so iee

this was a statement that was well received by the majority if not the all of our people. >> and there was an expression in that package, in that story, about the need for this call to unity, particularly at this time in this country. >> indeed. we're having this discourse and talking about the impact and the rhetoric that is targeted toward muslims. i don't want us to forget that hate has its own trajectory. it means muslims, probably means some catholics, probably is going to manifest itself as it is in anti-take msemitic speech. so while we're talking about the rhetoric that is islamophobic, it really is something that is deeper, that goes into a sense of intolerance about people who e

>> and father, do you agree? >> yes, it's time i think for the faith traditions to come together because something that affects one faith community affects all of us because we really do have a common bond. and i think that any kind of hate as the imam said very clearly, that is directed at one group can affect others, as well. so something that we all need to be mindful of and working proactively to work against. >> all right. we'll take a quick break. we'll continue our sunday morning discussion right after this.

welcome back. we're talking with faith leaders this morning for your sunday "viewpoint." and the walk we were just discussing with faith over fear, a call to conscience, as you all know, it's been a rough year for this nation after a tough election, many people are feeling unsettled band many are fearful. what is your message to them? ou

country are so much stronger when we act according to the best of our values informed by our spiritual traditions and the highest of our civic traditions. and we would come out of a season that basically invited us to go as low as we could go, that it was time for us for call ourselves to our highest ideals. and that if we did that, we have far less to fear than if we fall prey to some of the behaviors and speech that causes us to question who we are to each other. >> and do you believe that walks such as the one that you participated in resonate with those who are watching that the message is being received by those who need to hear it? are people listening? >> i think there are multiple audiences for acts of s

the most victimized, they may not come out to an event like this but seeing it on television, reading it in the newspaper or listening on the radio that other people of faith, of conviction, gathered together to stand for them gives them a sense that america really is the place that they were told that it is. and for those who are on the side of hate and intolerance discover that the bubble that perhaps they live in and the people that they talk to don't represent the breadth of what this nation is all about. >> father, what is your message to people who are fearful, worried about what will happen tomorrow? >> i think the message really is that you see that leaders of faith can come together in the spirit of trust, in the spirit of genuine fraternity and love. and that we as leaders ar

congregation that are behind us and support the message which is that faith really is greater than the fear that may pervade in some people's hearts and people of faith have a message to bring to the wider community. and i think what you saw in the march was the public expression of much of the broader work that is done away from the cameras, that many times we get together as leaders, as groups that is not part of the media, the media doesn't see that, but then we have these opportunities to come together to show the broader community the fruits of the work of those times together. >> and i think that what is important to recognize is that is this a march that took place in the context interfaith dialogue that goes on continually. we're not strangers to each other. when somebody is made to feel to be the other, we all understand that. and in fact the way that the march was organized was

responding to particular texts. and we responded to the text that more than 36 times in the bible it tells us that we have to remember that we were strangers in the land of egypt. so if anybody by political means, by social means, is made to feel other, made to feel stranger, it's in-cucumbent upos to come together. last year we sat together to have a dialogue on interfaith conversation. our children from our communities got together and built peace benches. it was a beautiful thing. on martin luther king workday, they took strips of wood and painted on those tristrips of w responding to texts of judaism, christianity, islam, teachings about peace. they took a peace from the koran, islamic faith children took from the jewish tradition. they created those peace

congregations with the hope that people will sit together and have a conversation that will lead to peace that others won't feel like they're the stranger. >> and isn't that especially important during the holidays. or are the holidays just a temporary break from all of the other stuff, bishop? >> it's an opportunity to be reminded every year when they come around what it is that we value most. and so, yeah, it's a break, but it's a break that we need to redirect us and to set us back on the courses that we ultimately want to walk. >> and my children are muslim, my eldest daughter said i have to be honest, my favorite holiday is christmas. because you get this constant reminder everywhere you go it's about love, it's about peace, it's about joy. and it really doesn't matter how you connect to that, but that you to connect.

up symbolically, it really has an intense answer that it is a reminder and human beings benefit from the reminder. >> we have to take a break. we'll be right back.

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n. welcome back. we continue our discussion now. and father, i'd like to pick up on a point that was just made by the imam about faith and the belief that faith is supposed to promote feelings of hope, peace, joy, togetherness. what do you say to those who today feel faith may be failing us, those who question whether faith and religion have lost their power, influence and usefulness in the lives of people? >> i think you just have to look back to the visit of pope francis to washington last year to see the tremendous impact that h p

but other faiths and people of no faith. the numbers of people take came out to visit the holy father when he came, the number of people who lined the streets down constitution avenue and the people waiting in the various crowds, i think his visit was an example of the power of faith over people of many different persuasions. and so i think he of course uses -- used his visit as an at any time to ask for peace, for dialogue among religions and working together for the common good. in fact when he spoke about the golden rule in congress, you may remember that the delegates or the congressmen and president were able to complete the golden rule when he began the first half of it. so people of a variety of different religious persuasions were able to follow along with what he began. and so i think faith does bring hope and visit and solidarity, as well. >> and what do

who ask what good is religion in a world like this? >> i think religion comes from the word, it's about binding. and it binds us one to another, it makes connections. the four of us have different belie beliefs and some truths that we share. and we choose to lift up what is common and what will lift us up as a community. none of us want to be alone in this world. and the reality is that we stand with each other. and this is the beauty of this melting pot of america, is that i'm a child of a holocaust survivor. if it wasn't our ability to open our arms and accept people to come in, this nation would not be what it is. and that is what is so important about being reminded, whether the pope's visit or a service at the cathedral or my children going to visit a mosque, it's

we lift up about love, justice, decency, civility that come from the core of our faiths and that is what a march like sunday really helps people to remind them of and it's hopefully what the holidays will remind us of. >> and bishop, there are many pressing problems in the world right now. you have terrorism, the refugee crisis in europe. here at home, hunger, homelessness, crime. what do you think is the most pressing issue for us here in this country at this time? >> the capacity to come together to address all of the issues that you described. one of the things that keeps us ineffective is the ways we have turned on one another. and so i believe that there are false dichotomies and false -- and conversations and imps

where we cannot as one way that address those issues. so i would add that part of it is resolve and courage. work hard to resolve and to courage. and that means getting your hands dirty, that means learning how to be in relationships with people who see the world differently, and not quitting until we have reached the solutions that makes the world a better place. >> and imam. >> because i'm sitting with the rab rabbi, he always teaches linguistically. people who have a connection with god, but they follow it with deeds of righteousness. so the call for us now is to say every time we have this kind of challenge and we have had it in this country, every time that we have faced racism,

slavery, oppression of women, whatever it is, discrimination against catholics, every time that we have overcome that, it has that america better. so this challenge right now, reaching out to part of our community that is hurting, that felt alienated, that felt that they want to be heard as a segment of america, we now have to say to them we know that there is something broken in you and our love and our compassion will reach out to you to make it a united states, not a divided states. >> and we will be right back.

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and do so again for a variety of different organizations in the surrounding area. and certainly across the archdiocese, there are many different parishes that participate in different ways. >> and we heard about a wonderful opportunity. >> we have a great opportunity that members of catholic university have come to us, members from the national cathedral come, and imam's kids come. we have a huge workday open to the whole community on the monday of the martin luther king workday and we bag food and do all these things. but what is most important is that in the end the kids from catholic university stick around and they sweep the floors and put the tables away. all the different things that happen and -- you had asked earlier about what our prayers

somebody sent me my prayer is that it says a fence sign that is up that says love thyparentho exceptions. that is my prayer. >> and imam, since he mentioned you and your kids, tell us more about what you will be doing on mlk day. >> the stereotypes get broken not by us talking about you can oh, i believe this, i believe that, it's when people actually talk the talk and we talk the talk. what does your faith say about why we're here and we actually put together this casserole thing, a recipe, but feeding -- all of our traditions say feed the hungry. no catholics,

people of various traditions coming together and saying we're going to do this thing and we're not going to do it separately, we're going to do it together. whaend k and when kids go back home, they're touched by saying i spent the afternoon with a jewish kid and my background is palestinian. but we worked it out here. and if they can work it out, it means the world can work it out. >> adults should be able to do it if kids can. so martin luther king day and then the inauguration. one event is the national prayer service on the 21st of january. so it will be held at the cathedral. have you been invited to participate? >> we are in the early conversation stages along with cardinal wuerl's office with members of the transition team and that's about as far as i can say. we are

instructions and desires from the president-elect as we offered the suggestions of an interfaith service with all represented. and has been our custom for years. and we understand that that is his desire, so we are moving forward with that, about thbut all i can say. >> and that is breaking news i believe. and on mlk day, do you have something special? >> we love going to the synagogue. it's day of service and also chabot prayers. and we need to be reminds of his prophetic words that go far deeper and broader than simply having the dream, it's living out the dream. so part of our reminder is that, yes, as a nation we've been divided before and we've been called to our better selves and that's where we are today and we will answer the call again. >> and 40 religious

stand hand-in-hand on a pulpit. doesn't matter which church or synagogue we're in, it matters that we're together. >> bishop, imam, father, thank you. and thank you.

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hrector of trinity church wall street. we're delighted that you're joining us for christmas eve services. trinity's been here at the corner of broadway and wall street for more than 300 years, serving this neighborhood as new york grew from a rural village to one of the great cities of the world. today, our congregation remains committed to being a good neighbor. as part of our social justice efforts, we serve lunches every day to those who are hungry. trinity offers not only free concerts, but also music education to children who will be our future leaders in the arts. and we work with partner congregations all over the world to be good stewards of god's gifts.